COLD VARNISH.

279

invention, however, does not belong to the English ;”surely he might have waited till they had claimed it. Butthat they did no such thing, the very words of the author hequotes would convince him, who only says “ it was intro-duced into England by one Evelyn, in the year 1033.” AVeare desirous that all should have that which is their due;and we accordingly find it is claimed by the Sicilians. OneAntonio Cento, an artist of Palermo , first discovered thegold varnish, and about 1(580 the method of preparing it waspublished, which will be discovered in a hook, intituledLa Sicilia inventrice; overo, lAt invenzione lodevoli nate inSioilia, opera del Dot lor. D. Vincenzo Auria, Palermitano :con li divertimenti peniali, osservazioni e giunte all' islessa, diD. Antonio Moiafitore, mcerdole Palermitano. Palermo ,1704, 4io.

Among other things, it contains the following: “ Takegum lac, it being freed from all filth, with which it is usuallymixed, put it in linen, wash it with pure water, till it has■ceased to give the water a red tint; then, after it is driedperfectly, reduce it to an impalpable pow'der; to everypound of this powder add four pounds of spirit of wine; mixthese well together, then pour them into an alembic, gra-duate the fire so as for it perfectly to dissolve the gum inthe spirit; then strain this solution through a piece of finelinen doth, the refuse that remains in the cloth being wellpressed, may be thrown away; cork it closely in a glassbottle. AVith this solution any wood may be gilt. Takingcare to use it with a smooth tool, being a pencil made fromthe tail of a certain quadruped, called the rari, to be had inthe colour-shops; with this liquor wash the wood, preparedwith silver, three times gently over, suffering it to dry be-tween each washing. By these means your work will beextremely beautiful, and have a resemblance to the finestgold.”

This recipe is often varied by different workmen, who doeach of them pretend to have some peculiar addition of theirown, to improve it; they accordingly preserve them as aprofound secret; but the above is the basis of the composi-tion, with a correct detail of the process, used in makingand applying of it. Beauniur was apprised, as has beendiscovered from his papers, of the gilding of leather tapestry;and, it is also said, the method of making the English var-nish was communicated by Scarlet to ,llellot, anno 1720;and by Graham to Du Fay , in 1738. In 1701, Hellot gavethe recipe to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, who pub-lished it the same year. See their Memoirs.